So, you come here often?
Often times it’s not failure we fear, but success; the unknown of it all causes us to avoid it. Learn how to get in touch with your future self & charge towards your goals with confidence!
You’re listening to Episode 68 of the Music-Preneur Mindset Podcast. Hello! You’re listening to Episode 68: Getting to Know Your Future Self.
I’m your host, Suz – a mindset coach helping music professionals get clear on their goals and find the time to get it all done while maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
This episode is brought to you by our very special sponsor – Soundfly. I’m BEYOND excited to not only announce them as an official sponsor of The Music-Preneur Mindset Summit, BUT to also announce that their founder, Ian Temple, will be hosting a special workshop at the Summit – Clearing the Fog: Visualizing Goals You Can Take Action On next Friday at 11am in Long Beach, NY.
Tell me if this sounds familiar: You’ve got some big idea in mind, but no idea how to actually make it happen. Or, you’ve started working on it, but gotten stuck somewhere along the way. Procrastination, technical know-how, not knowing where to start, lack of confidence — these are all things that can hold you back.
Ian and his incredible team at Soundfly are here to help you bust through those sticking points. They’ve developed a unique one-on-one training and mentorship program designed with those things in mind. It takes place over the course of a month, with weekly calls, weekly action plans towards clear goals, and a whole host of other tools that will have you seeing progress right away.
If you’re going to the Music-Preneur Mindset Summit this year, Ian has decided to offer a huge & exclusive discount specifically for conference attendees to help keep the momentum going after the event.
You can also visit soundfly.com for more information about the program and tell them I sent you!
Now, we are officially 7 days away from the Summit and tickets are only available for a few more days! We will not be accepting walk-ins or any streamer requests after the event has started on Thursday, Sept 26 @ 2:30pm EST.
If you’re on the fence or concerned about the cost of showing up in person simply email me – suz@therockstaradvocate.com – and we can talk it out and get you to a place where you feel 100% comfortable with what you’ll be spending to attend.
And now for this week’s episode… I wanted to introduce Soundfly’s offer to you on this episode in particular because it goes so hand in hand with this topic – Getting to Know Your Future Self.
What exactly does this mean?
I have found over the years, through my own experience, my work with clients, and reading a plethora of research on the topic of motivation, that we don’t avoid getting things done because we fear failure. We run from opportunities to get things done because we fear success.
Think about it…
We avoid the unknown; it’s survival instinct. Any animal avoids something it can’t make sense out of. When you’re not clear on what you want your future to look like you either avoid taking action or you self-sabotage your progress.
We fear success much more than we fear failure. We know what failure looks & feels like – we didn’t get/accomplish what we wanted. But, success looks & feels different each time because around every turn or above every hilltop we’re going where we’ve never yet been.
How can we avoid this avoidance and embrace the future we believe we can build for ourselves? If we spend time getting crystal clear on the person we’re working to become, the goals we’re setting out to achieve, and what our life will look like once those goals have been achieved, the future won’t seem so intimidating and we’re more likely to go after it more intentionally.
It’s like hanging with an old friend vs. a blind date. If you’re meeting an old friend for drinks you’re excited and walk into the situation with ease because you know who you’re about to meet and you know it’ll be how you want to spend your time.
When it comes to preparing to meet a blind date, you’re anxious, praying that it doesn’t turn out to be a complete disaster of an evening. Why? Because you don’t know the person well enough to know if being with them is worth your time and energy.
It could be amazing. It could be incredibly worth your time. But you’ll spend the time leading up to the blind date worrying about the worst case scenario.
It’s not necessarily because you’re afraid of failing at the date, but it’s easier to focus on what it looks like going poorly because that’s something you’ve become familiar with – but an amazing, incredible blind date? Are you as familiar with that scenario? Probably not, so you’re not likely going to move towards that possibility even though that would be a fantastic outcome.
Going after success without a clear plan and vision is like going on a blind date. You drag your feet the whole time. You go because, well, you never know, but you have a strong feeling it will fail because that’s the safe bet.
The truth is the future is what we make of it. Life is made up of choices and the mindset we have going into situations.
When you can see and know your future self the same way you see and know your very best friend, you’ll approach him/her/they with confidence, ease, and excitement.
Get to know your future self much the same as you would get to know someone through a penpal service {do they still do those things? What’s the 2.0 version of that? Snapchat?} – ask questions, think about their needs and wants, find out who they hang out with and why they’re going after what they’re going after.
Ask them how they’re feeling at the moment, what they’re happiest about, what they’re looking forward to the most with what’s to come. Where are they spending their time? What’s life like for them?
I know, this may feel odd at first, because all of the questions you’re asking need to be answered by you and these answers will likely feel like random guesses when you feel the pressure to predict what could be. But there’s more to it than that.
Visualizing isn’t about predicting the future, it’s about getting comfortable enough with what the future could look like that we take the first steps to get there. If/when you notice your vision is changing you can always pivot & tweak your plans as needed.
It’s also not about wishing anything into existence. “The Secret” and any other Law-ofAttraction stuff you may have heard about – the only way those work is if you get clear on what it is you want, WHY you want it, and then decide to take action towards achieving it.
As I said, visualization is a crucial piece to not only planning ahead, but to actually reaching our goals. Dr. Frank Niles, a social scientist & business strategist explains, “When we visualize our desired outcome, we begin to ‘see’ the possibility of achieving it. Through visualization, we catch a glimpse of what is, in the words of one writer, our ‘preferred future.’ When this happens, we are motivated and prepared to pursue our goal.”
There are no right answers to the questions I mentioned asking your future self. The only answers that exist are the ones you decide are the answers. I know, that can feel intimidating at first, because, again, we fear success and the unknown.
But stay BOLD, stay HONEST, and say SPECIFIC. If you can be bold enough to say what you truly want and you can get more and more specific with what those wants are you’ll be well on your way to getting to know your future self.
First, meditation or writing a letter to your future self are both GREAT ways to visualize your future goals. It’s a part of my morning routine and I often use YouTube tutorials to guide me along the way. You can access my exact routine on The Rock/Star Advocate YouTube page: bit.ly/suzmorning. The link is available in the show notes.
It should be noted that my routine is not going to be for everyone, so don’t use it as your Bible, but rather a starting point for inspiration. If certain pieces work for you, great! If they don’t, try something else in its place.
Maybe meditation helps you, maybe it’s cardio, maybe it’s yoga, maybe it’s journaling or singing in the shower. All that matters is that you do something that gets those day dream visions flowing and you allow yourself time to add specificity to those visions.
It’s important to do these visualization exercises, whatever those exercises look like for you, daily or as close to daily as possible. They don’t have to take a long time. 5, 10 minutes is great. If you only have 2 minutes, 2 focused minutes are better than none. You can do it on the train, at your desk, in bed before you fall asleep or right after you wake.
When you first get clear on what you want your future and future self look like, create a vision board to work off of. After doing this process for a while, I was inspired by my former business coach, Jordana Jaffe, to start creating my vision boards digitally.
I know, this goes against everything you always hear me talk about – the power of putting pen/ pencil to paper. BUT, when it comes to vision-boarding, there are two great reasons, as Jordana pointed out, that creating them online is more beneficial:
- You have so much more inspiration to choose from! When you get out magazines to clip images from, or even sketch out your own thoughts, you’re limiting yourself to what you have in front of you and what you yourself know to exist. When you type in a few keywords into a Google Image search or through Pinterest’s network, a whole world opens up to you with images that may more accurately express your vision.
WARNING: Searching for images online can be more dangerous than telling yourself, “I’ll just watch one episode of Stranger Things.” So set a timer and decide ahead of time what keywords you’ll be searching. - You can stay digitally connected! Creating your vision board in Canva or in Photoshop allows you to save your work as your desktop, tablet, or smartphone background. I’ve been doing this for two years now and it’s been a game changer in reaching my yearly goals.
Making sure your goals are always in the forefront of your mind by placing your vision board somewhere you will see it daily will keep you working intentionally more often than not.
When it comes to writing a letter to yourself daily from your future self, many people get stuck on what to write. What if you run out of things to say? How much of the future are you supposed to envision? How much do you write?
Again, there are no wrong answers here, but I always point out that if the letter is saying the same thing each and every day, that’s ok, too! Repetition helps our visions get more and more clear in our brains, in our bones. Go for it! However, keep these tips in mind:
- These letters don’t have to be super long. A paragraph or two is more than fine to give yourself some motivation and reassurance that you got this! Your future self is real and they’re waiting for you, so get moving!
- You can write about different points in your future. You’re gonna have your larger goals you’re working towards, but you’ll also have smaller, more short-term goals that you’re working towards at various times. You can write about your future self who exists in 5 years after you’ve achieved a lofty goal, or your future self in 1 week after you’ve finished a project you’re currently aiming to tie up.
- You can write the same thing over and over again or you can continue to add more details to your previous letters. Each letter doesn’t have to address ALLLL of the questions I listed earlier. One day you can write yourself a note about the environment you’re in after your goal is achieved – where you’re living, where you’re spending your time, what you’re wearing, who you’re surrounded by – and another day you can focus more on how you’re feeling post-goal-achieving – the pride you’re feeling, the freedom you’re feeling, the motivation you’re feeling towards your next goals.
We often talk about getting clear on our why behind our goals – why we do what we do and why we fight to keep going – but we often forget to get clear on why we achieve our goals; we stop at the inception and hard work parts rather than continue to get clear on the aftermath of our hard work.
When you can understand what life can look like for you after achieving your goals you’ve set for yourself you’re more likely to pass the finish line.
What do you think? Is this something you’re willing to try? You’ve got nothing to lose but your fear! Wouldn’t you prefer your goals to feel like old friends rather than a blind date? Consider this part of your self-care routine. Spend time getting to know who you are – all the parts of you – including the future you.
It may not make the work to get where you want to go easier, but it will motivate you to do the work in spite of the hurdles that may pop up in your path.
Brick walls are there to test us. But if we’re clear on what we believe to be on the other side of those walls and why we need to keep going, and we’re willing to accept a little help to move passed those walls, we’ll pass the test with flying colors.
Check the show notes today for links on additional resources for getting to know your future self as well as more information about getting a Soundfly Mentor in your corner!
As a reminder, Soundfly is only offering their discount to Summit attendees, so be sure to take advantage of their incredible bonus offer!
I am so honored to be collaborating with Soundfly, I love contributing to their blog because they truly care about educating independent musicians and empowering them to become the future business badasses they’re meant to be as they build their sustainable career in music.
This shared passion is definitely what brought us together and I can’t think of a better company to partner with for this Summit. You may recall my interview with co-founder Jeremy Young in Episode 56. I’ve left the link to that episode in the show notes so you can go back and listen when you have time!
I thank you for tuning in today, and I have a feeling your future self thanks you as well! I do encourage you to come join us in Long Beach next week, Sept 26-28 to not only get clear on your goals together but to also get fully acquainted with who you’re becoming in this industry. You can find more information and links to tickets in the show notes – www.therockstaradvocate.com/ep68.
And before you go, I’m curious, did anything in particular hit home with you today? Did anything stick out as inspiring or surprising to you? Be sure to let me know! Leave a comment on the show notes page or send me an email: suz@therockstaradvocate.com.
Until next time, Rockstar! Have a wonderful week and I hope to see you back here next week so we can get grounded to get rising! Take care.
Key Highlights
- Why we don’t fear failure
- What it means to know our future self
- Ways you can get to know your future self
- How to write a letter from your future self
- Soundfly’s mentor program
Links/Rocksources
- Theme music brought to you by DC-based Indie/Pop band Sub-Radio
- More podcast episodes can be found here
- You can download a copy of the episode’s transcript here
- Suz’ morning routine on YouTube can be found here
- Learn more about Soundfly’s Mentors and mentor program here {there’s also a video here}
- Listen to Soundfly co-founder Jeremy Young’s Music-Preneur Spotlight episode here
- JOIN US AT THE SUMMIT!
The Music-Preneur Mindset Summit is 1 Week Away!!!
Stop doing it alone & putting off what you can do with a community of support!
Buy your tickets here & qualify found Soundfly’s mentor program discount!
Thanks for listening!
If you liked what you heard, help get this podcast in front of others by subscribing, rating, and leaving a review using your favorite podcast app 😉
